Paul Helm, Reforming Free Will: A Conversation on the History of Reformed Views (Reformed Exegetical Doctrinal Studies series). Mentor, 2020. 264 pp. $ 19.99 [Review by Dr. Marco Barone]

Reforming Free will finally offers in one place the main movements and arguments of Paul Helm’s thought on free will, compatibilism, necessity, contingency, and related issues within the context of the thought of the Reformed Scholastics and Jonathan Edwards.

The Introduction and Chapter 1 contain some background and clarifications aimed at preparing the reader to better understand the rest of the book. Chapter 2 and 3 absolve Martin Luther and John Calvin respectively from the allegation of being “necessitarians,” that is (among other things) from the claim that their respective thoughts do not leave room for genuine contingency. Chapter 4 starts entering more directly into the current debate between Antonie Vos, the editors of Reformed Thought on Freedom (Baker Academic, 2010), Richard A. Muller, and Helm himself. Chapter 5, perhaps one of the most important parts of the book, shows the significant similarities between Edwards’ and Francis Turretin’s on the issues of freedom and necessity. Chapter 6 attempts to show how for the Reformed Scholastics the relationship between the understanding and the will has a causal nature, and not simply logical. Chapter 7 contains an exposition of several Reformed Scholastics who according to Helm present positions quite in harmony with compatibilism. Finally, the Conclusion offers based on the proceeding material some hints for further research on these issues.

One of the main strengths of Reforming Free Will is that it provides the reader with further evidence to show the mistaken and textually ungrounded nature of some readings of Edwards which has been offered in the relatively recent literature (on this regard, the book focuses primarily on Richard A. Muller’s accounts of Edwards’ thought). Helm’s book also helps to understand that when it comes to the issue of the soul and its faculties, the discussion cannot limit itself to the logical sphere (which seems to be the limit of the discussion of the editors of Reformed Thought on Freedom), but it also needs to consider the dynamics and narrative of both theological anthropology and soteriology. In this latter regard, Reforming Free Will is a good companion volume to Helm’s Human Nature from Calvin to Edwards (Reformation Heritage Books, 2018) as the two works aptly complement each other.

On a negative note, the book would have benefited from a more thorough editorial work (typos and stylistic inconsistencies are not infrequent), as well as some additional revision of the critical apparatus (a few relevant bibliographical entries are missing). The syntax is also somewhat difficult, and surprisingly so, in the light of the author’s previous publications. That said, and as it transpires from the previous paragraphs of this review, there is much to be thankful for this book, and one can hope that there will be further contributions from Helm on these topics.